(Bloomberg) — Applications for US unemployment benefits fell to a four-month low, remaining muted despite a recent slowdown in hiring.
Initial claims decreased by 4,000 to 218,000 in the week ended Sept. 21, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 223,000 applications.
Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, ticked higher to 1.83 million in the week ended Sept. 14 following a downward revision to the prior week’s figures, though they remain below the levels reached from June to August.
Jobless claims have stayed low in recent months despite a rise in the unemployment rate and slowdown in the pace of job creation.
The four-week moving average, a metric that helps smooth out volatility in the data, fell to 224,750, the lowest since June.
Jobless claims have stayed low in recent months despite a rise in the unemployment rate and slowdown in the pace of job creation. Economists say that’s because workers eligible for such benefits have not been losing their jobs.
Though weekly filings remain low, multiple large companies have announced or implemented plans this month to scale back their workforces. Paramount Global carried out a second round of layoffs Tuesday. General Motors Co. announced last week that it would temporarily lay off two-thirds of the workers at an assembly plant in Kansas until mid-2025.
If layoffs increase in the coming months and more Americans find themselves unemployed, Federal Reserve officials would likely consider reducing interest rates faster than they currently envision.
Initial claims, before adjustment for seasonal factors, fell by 5,957 to 180,878. Texas and New York registered the biggest declines.
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